Monday, May 28, 2012

A Right Royal Knees Up


You might have heard by now that England is about to have a party this upcoming weekend! Yes, we are going to have a "right royal knees up" to celebrate "our" queen's Diamond Jubilee with several days of events and two holidays. Queen Elizabeth II is only the second monarch to reach the milestone of reigning 60 years, the first having been Queen Victoria, so it's a huge accomplishment for her and definitely worthy of a party.

I give you a heads-up: this is a photo heavy blog, but if you only began to know how many things I cut out, you would thank me! Let me show you just a small, small taste of the "souvenirs" that are in the stores now, ready to become collectibles down the road.

We start with china and pottery.


Here is the official Royal Jubilee designed ware, but there are scores of others out there.
You could buy a different cup and a plate to use for every day of the month, should you care to celebrate all month long.


Emma Bridgewater has done a whole line you can see by clicking here,


as well as Cath Kidston whose collection can be found here.


Fortnum and Mason has an extensive line, including teapots,


Jubilee Majestic Marmalade with diamond shaped pieces of orange peel sprinkled with gold leaf throughout,


specially blended tea,



and coffee,


as well as a musical biscuit tin that plays "God Save the Queen." The queen was quite taken with this item when she visited the store in the spring, and so was I, so two tins came home with me.


You might prefer this tall tin of pistachio clotted cream biscuits,


or fudge for a gift for you or someone special.


Paper goods are everywhere, including these cupcake thrones,


royal crowns for all the participants,


"Right Royal Trivia" games,


and even pinatas,


or Jubilee crackers.


You can easily satisfy your sweet tooth with special biscuits/cookies,


in characters,


or party style, or


you might decide to entertain with this teapot cake.


Harrod's 2012 annual bear is in the spirit, but he is currently sold out according to their website,


so maybe a waving queen would strike your fancy instead,


or some "keepsake" pillows,


tins of mints,


or one of the ubiquitous tea towels found in every store. 


I think the temporary tattoos might be fun for the party, and I kept wondering why no one had thought ahead to make a Christmas ornament....


but of course, they had.



Two of my favorite items are a Royal Scrapbook


and I wish you could flip through and see this one---a Royal dress up dolly book. Love seeing all those royals in their undies!

So what did I buy? Well, unlike during the Royal wedding frenzy when I bought way too many cups, and now wonder where to display them all, I've used restraint this time. 

So far, I've bought the musical biscuit tin,


and this lovely ornament from Harrod's



and my craziest find of all.

Royal sunglasses for the weekend, as modeled by "Princess" Jordan!

Hope you'll be watching along as we celebrate--either in person or on TV!

Do I need to pick up a little souvenir for you?

8 comments:

  1. I have to say that the Brits definitely know how to party! Glad you are there to partake. Jordan in her "crown" is too cute for words. Have fun!

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  2. Your post really made me smile - and realise just what a creative variety there is of this souvenir stuff. I've tended to walk past it mostly, but a closer look through your observant eye has shown me what I've been missing! I love how in the dress-up book all the royals are in various states of undress except for the very proper queen, in a modesty-preserving flag dress!
    Thanks for your kind comment on my blog, and I'm happy to have visited yours as a result!

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  3. I LOVE IT ALL!!!!!!!!! Those paper dolls are a HOOT!

    I must have that aqua tin of clotted cream biskies if anything, just for the TIN!

    How lovely, how wonderful that the QUEEN has reigned so long. GOD BLESS HER FOR SURE!

    And thank you dearest for coming on a little Roman Holiday with me! Come on by next week for our plane ride over to Paris; our Paris trip actually is on June 8, but I always love to LOOK OUT THE WINDOW to see where I am going!

    Have fun, Anita

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  4. princess jordan looks quite regal in her crown!

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  5. Wow What a celebration! Such fun pic's I loved looking at everyone of them. So glad you shared all that you did even though I know how much time it takes to put lots pics on here. lol
    Your little Queen in her hot sunglasses is just adorable.
    Oh the life of a Queen. I do wish I could of been born in royalty...lol
    I will just have to dream about it through your stays in England.
    Can't wait to see your post about the celebration.
    Sometime you need to be a blogazine guest on my site so everyone of my friends can enjoy visiting with you like I do. No pressure just when you want to. lol
    Love
    Maggie

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  6. I love your pictures! I'm always afraid someone will tell me I can't take pictures. They did that once at Fortnum and Mason. I need to find out how you do it. I'm assuming you're here for the celebratory weekend?

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  7. I am so honored that I received on of the musical biscuit tin that plays "God Save the Queen" for my birthday. It was safely packed away in my suitcase and when I started to leave my mom's house, it started playing God Save the Queen on its own. I ended up leaving it with her for safekeeping because I wasn't sure if they would confiscate it at security. :)

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